Between a Demon Lord and a Human Boy
by DarkHorse26
Summary: What if Magus were Guile's mentor? A collection of ficlets featuring Magus and Guile.
1. Redeeming Quality

**This was inspired by this prompt: Magus is Guile's mentor. And yes, the setting is long before Chrono Cross.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Chrono Cross and Chrono Trigger.**

000

That crash resounded again.

Hearing that, Magus stood up and balled his fists. It was truly annoying to hear the same noise again and again, and this was just like _asking_ him to snap at Guile.

Pressing himself against a tree, Magus took a peek. Further in front of him, Guile was lying face down on the ground, immobile. Mud had stained his shirt and shorts. Damp leaves had clung onto his whole body as well. Cuts and bruises too, had occupied almost the entirety of his limbs.

Magus frowned and stomped the ground hard, crushing the branches beneath and bringing about a loud crash. He would explode in any minute and yell at Guile for his failure in mastering the simplest thing in magic: flight. Why not? Magus disliked slow learners, while he had spent at least two months to lecture Guile _only_ about this.

But soon, Magus' scowl faded as Guile's arms moved and shuffled through the leaves and twigs on the ground. Those small, injured limbs managed to support Guile like what pillars would do for a building.

Magus grinned as he watched Guile getting up and standing in a somewhat stooped posture. For him, this was indeed, terrific. Guile was very strong as an eleven-year-old boy.

"That's just impressive," Magus said silently as a smile crept onto his face. He believed that with such resilience, Guile could last much longer before giving up on his training. It was quite a redeeming quality for Guile's sluggish learning speed.

Thanks to this quality too, Magus did not regret that he had decided to raise and train Guile. Perhaps when Guile grew up, he would be a very powerful wizard with such endurance, and Magus could use him as his ally in his ultimate mission: the search for something he had forgotten.

000


	2. No Choices

**I've decided to write this into a set of ficlets between Magus and Guile. This takes place before Chrono Cross and after the Dream Devourer ending of Chrono Trigger DS.**

**Note that Guile's speech is more casual than it is in Chrono Cross, because he is **_**eleven**_** in this fic.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Chrono Cross and Chrono Trigger.**

000

There were no other options. Surviving in a forest for a month would be tough, but Guile had to do it anyway. He believed that showing his resilience was probably the only way to regain Magus' trust; something that vanished due to him taking more than three months to master flight.

Hoping to find something edible, Guile rummaged the shrubberies in front of him. Unfortunately, he only ended up griming his hands with wet leaves.

Guile pulled back his arms, his gaze dropping to the leaves and twigs beneath his feet. Food was seemingly non-existent here, and this made him wonder if he could still be alive after a month.

_But Sir Magus won't let me travel along with him if I give up…_

Guile shuddered momentarily at the thought. His parents and most of his friends died in a military assault on his hometown, and since then, Magus was the only person he could rely on. He grew up with him. He learnt a lot from him. For Guile, Magus was more like his friend or even his uncle, although addressing Magus as one of them always resulted in a reprimand.

Face hardened with determination, Guile walked away, looking to the left and right cautiously like a predator seeking for a prey. He would not mind searching the entire forest only for food, as long as it would enable him to survive and be with Magus again.

000


	3. Concern

**Disclaimer: I don't own Chrono Cross and Chrono Trigger.**

000

As Magus trod the soft grass beneath, the determined look on his face faded. He was now far from the forest as he could only feel blades of grass grazing his legs instead of twigs.

"Is leaving a defenseless boy in a forest the right thing to do?" Magus wondered out loud. "What if a ferocious beast suddenly appeared in front of Guile, snarling and baring its sharp fangs?"

Magus stopped on his tracks. Perhaps it would be better if he returned to the forest to teach Guile some basic magic spells so that he could survive in the forest by himself… But no! That would reveal his soft side to Guile, and Magus would hate to see that happening. If he were too nice to Guile, that boy might be more dependent on him.

Putting aside those thoughts, Magus let out a 'humph' and resumed walking. He believed that he being a firm master would make Guile a strong person.

And a strong companion was what he needed in his journey.

000


End file.
